Many users currently avail themselves of email messaging services that allow these users to send, store and receive email messages quickly and efficiently to other users around the world. While these services originated in the context of business information networks, many users now have access to such services via home computers, the Internet and the World Wide Web. To access such services via a home computer the user needs to establish a connection with their service provider, generally via a modem, and check their electronic mailbox to determine if new messages have been received. Because some users connect to their service providers infrequently, messages to these users may not be read in a timely fashion.
Some telephonic voicemail services, on the other hand, can provide notification to a subscriber that voicemail messages are waiting. However, access is limited to voicemail messages received via this system.